The SIUE Cougars will be at Skyhawk Arena to take on the UT Martin Skyhawks in an Ohio Valley matchup. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Saturday, Feb. 20.
The Skyhawks edged Eastern Illinois 87-84 on Thursday. Twymond Howard fueled the Skyhawks, recording 29 points and 12 rebounds to notch his seventh double-double this season. The Cougars are coming off a 72-69 win over Southeast Missouri State on Thursday. Burak Eslik led the team in scoring with 24 points on 6-for-13 shooting.
Over the last five games, Howard and Myles Taylor have played at a high level for the Skyhawks. During that stretch, Howard has averaged 21.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.8 three-pointers. Not to be outdone, Taylor has put up 15.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 block.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Skyhawks won the first game 79-62. Howard was a top performer in the victory with 23 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one three-pointer.
The Skyhawks look to build on their records of 16-12 Straight Up (SU) and 12-10 Against The Spread (ATS). UT Martin has been struggling of late. In the last 10 games, UT Martin has only averaged 64.1 points per game compared to the 73.1 they’ve averaged on the season. Expect UT Martin to have lots of opportunities at the line against the Cougars, who are one of the most foul-prone teams in the nation with an average of 22.3 fouls per game.
On the other side, the Cougars head into the game with records of 14-10 ATS and 6-20 SU. During the last 10 games, they averaged 74.3 PPG, above their 65.9 PPG season average.
Following the Skyhawks’ latest win over SIUE, their SU record against SIUE moves to 6-4 over their most recent meetings. The Cougars hold the advantage ATS with a record of 5-3. UT Martin had the advantage in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers) once over the last five matchups. SIUE has never had the edge in all three categories.
Predictions: SU Winner – TN-Mar, ATS Winner – TN-Mar
Notes
“Tennessee-Martin is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games “.
“Tennessee-Martin is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games “.
“The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tennessee-Martin’s last 5 games “.
“Tennessee-Martin is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home”.
“Tennessee-Martin is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games at home”.
“Tennessee-Martin is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing SIU Edwardsville”.
“The total has gone OVER in 5 of Tennessee-Martin’s last 6 games when playing SIU Edwardsville”.
UT Martin sits at 8-5 SU against the conference, while SIUE is struggling at 3-11 SU.
SIUE won its last game by a three-point margin. In games decided by a margin of three points or less, UT Martin is 3-0. SIUE is 3-3 in close games this season.
The UT Martin Skyhawks average a field goal percentage of 43.8% this season. The SIUE Cougars have a subpar record of 3-11 when opponents have a FG% of 43.8% or greater.
On average, UT Martin attempts 22.0 three pointers and SIUE attempts 17.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the UT Martin Skyhawks have a 9-10 record while the SIUE Cougars have a subpar 2-7 record.
The SIUE Cougars make an average of 4.8 steals per game. When the UT Martin Skyhawks give up 4 or more steals, they are a winning 14-9.
